


Cruel Summer

by AnxiousCupcake



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, College AU, FWB, Friends With Benefits, Hooking up, OOC Natsu, Summer, best friends with benefits, last term of college, ooc lucy, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2020-12-14 19:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21021035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: Natsu and Lucy are best friends. One night things take a strange turn that eventually leads to them practically becoming friends with benefits despite their better judgement. The consequences aren't pretty and feelings getting in the way doesn't do anything to assuage the situation. The timing couldn't be worse; it's the last term of college and after the summer, they have no idea what the future holds. Rated M but for theme and semi explicit scenes.





	1. Fever Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, I'm really here publishing another fic with so many #wip. Clown? Yes. That's me.

Lucy stared at herself in the mirror, ensuring that all the details were in place. Her makeup, she thought, was on point that night as was her outfit. It was inviting but it didn’t reveal too much. It felt strange to be heading out to the bar so purposefully, but she’d been single for almost 18 months now. She had never done this before, but _ oh what the hell _. If she got herself just drunk enough to not care about it, and also to forget about it the next day, there wouldn’t be anything to regret. 

Ten minutes later, she was waiting downstairs impatiently, waiting for her friend Cana to pick her up. Finally, the car pulled in, and Cana let out a whistle. “Wow, _ somebody _’s getting laid tonight.”

“Sure hope it’s me,” said Lucy, shaking her head as she got into the car. “You’re late, you know.”

Cana rolled her eyes. “By _ ten _minutes.”

“Ten minutes is a lot,” said Lucy, arms crossed as Cana hit the pedal. 

“God, loosen up, will ya? You’re not takin’ home anyone tonight, not with that attitude.”

Lucy stuck her tongue out at her friend, making her laugh, and the two headed to the bar. If they got too drunk, they’d leave the car at the club. The bartender, a friend of theirs, didn’t really mind it. Mirajane didn’t mind _ anything _, in fact. The woman had more patience than most, it was practically awe-inspiring. 

* * *

Half an hour later, Lucy felt just a tad tipsy, but nowhere near as drunk as she needed to be. She’d danced with a couple of guys, but she didn’t _ feel _ it. She didn’t know _ what _ she was supposed to feel like, maybe even nothing, given how she was just looking for a one-night stand, but… it didn’t feel right. Now, she was just sitting at a bar stool, sipping on something, she wasn’t sure what, as she lazily watched the club. She was buzzed, but not _ drunk _drunk. She hated the crowd, the music and the annoying lights. If she could just find some-

She felt a masculine body sidle up next to her and she saw a guy with brown hair and sharp facial features, _ really, _ sharp facial features, eyeing her. _ Oh well. _

“Like what you see?” she asked, uncrossing her legs as she turned, leaning her side into the bartop as she kept her lips around the straw of her drink.

The guy smirked, as he stepped into the gap between her thighs. He was now looking down at her, smile not leaving his face as his hands closed around her legs to use as leverage to pull himself closer. He was literally towering over her now. 

“Maybe I do,” he said, and just as she was about to reach to grab his tie so she could pull him closer to her face, she felt someone standing behind her. 

Before she could say something, a familiar warm hand had closed around her elbow in a firm grip as she felt herself being pulled away from the bar stool. She squeaked as she hopped off of it, looking over her shoulder to see the brown haired man shaking his head as he tore his eyes away from her. She knew it would be futile to fight anyway, so she let herself be dragged out of the backdoor of the bar and into the cold. 

She shivered slightly, and felt a jacked being wrapped around her shoulder before being spun around to face her extremely livid best friend. 

“Hey, Natsu!” she said, trying to grin at him. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came to give Gray company,” he muttered. “And good thing I came too! What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, hands on his hips as he towered over her.

“Trying to get laid,” she said, shrugging.

He frowned at her. “What?”

“It’ been so long,” she said exasperated, throwing her hands up. “I just wanted…. Sex.”

“It’s so unlike you to take strangers home!” he said exasperated, eyes roving around their area to make sure none of the lecherous creeps had followed them out. “Have you _ seen _ the way they’re looking at you?”

_ "I know _how they’re looking at me,” she mumbled. “I dressed for the occasion...”

Natsu pursed his lips, but his grip only tightened on her hand. She was his best friend. He couldn’t bring himself to let her go back in. This was not the kind of thing she did and he was a hundred percent sure she’d regret it in the morning and spend at least two weeks beating herself up about it. It’s just not the kind of thing she did.

“Luce,” he said, shaking his head. “This is not a good idea. It’s just not… your kind of thing to do.”

“What does _ that _mean,” she asked, almost challengingly. 

“It means,” he started calmly. “You’re not the kind of person to take a stranger home and not have a freak out after it.”

Lucy huffed. “Well. Do _ you _ have a better idea? I can’t possibly ask someone that I _ do _know to have a one night stand with me now, can I?”

“I… don’t know. What are your possible options?” he asked, quirking a brow at her.

Lucy gasped, swatting his chest lightly. “I’m not discussing this with you. It’s weird…”

“We’re best friends,” he shrugged. “Let’s make one of those lists you really like.”

“List of people that I know who I could potentially ask to screw me?” she asked skeptically. 

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“_ Ideally _I’d rather not take a stranger home, but-”

“_ Fine _, let’s make a hypothetical list, then,” said Natsu. “Maybe then at least, you’ll come to your senses and see the folly in this dumb idea of yours.”

Lucy scowled. “Can’t believe you’re cockblocking me.”

“Hey, what are best friends,” asked Natsu, laughing. “So, now… Gray?”

“Juvia would kill me,” she muttered, and when he widened his eyes teasingly, quickly added, “Not that I’m interested in him that way.”

“Laxus?”

“_No _, he’s our professor,” she said, face scrunched up with disgust.

“He’s only a few years older than us,” said Natsu earnestly. “And I’ve known him all my life, and he’s my friend. And-”

“_Natsu! _”

“Alright, alright,” conceded Natsu. “Gajeel?’

Lucy snorted. “That idiot is hung up on Levy and he’s the only one who doesn’t know. Next.”

“Jella-”

“No.”

“Lyon?”

“Gray's cousin?! _No._”

“Rufus?” 

Lucy grimaced. “His obsession with learning things by rote drives me up the wall. If he says ‘memory’ once more, I might just kill him.”

“Alright, no Rufus then,” Natsu laughed. “Oh, how about Dan? Doesn’t he have a massive crush on you?”

“Which is exactly why a one-night stand him would be the worst idea ever,” she grunted.

“Sorry, Luce, end of the line,” shrugged Natsu, linking her arm through his as they headed to the parking lot. “Maybe tonight just isn’t your night.”

_ Well it would have been if you hadn’t interrupted me ten minutes ago, _she thought, sliding into the passenger seat of his car. Her gaze flickered to him, and she came to a realization. Before her brain could catch up with her mouth, the word was out as she said, “You.”

He turned to look at her quizzically, as he revved up the engine. “What about me?”

“You’re single,” she said simply, strapping on her seat belt after shrugging out of Natsu’s jacket and putting it in the backseat. “I know you. And I trust you. That’s all three criteria. Check, and check, and check.”

He stared at her at her for a few seconds before checking the rearview mirror and looking over his shoulder. “Are you drunk?” he asked suspiciously.

“No, I’m not,” she replied, indignant. “I’m serious… When was the last time _ you _had sex.”

Natsu frowned, forgetting their current predicament, as he drove out of their parking lot. “I…” he held his fingers up trying to count. “...don’t remember.”

“See? Problem solved,” said Lucy. “We’ve both been having a... dry spell for a while now. So… let’s just…” she shrugged. “Shake it up a little.”

Natsu scrunched his nose. “It will make things weird…”

“_ No, _it won’t…” insisted Lucy, slipping off her shoes as she pulled her feet up onto the seat and tuck them under her. 

“What if it does…” asked Natsu, worried. 

“It won’t,” repeated Lucy. “We’re best friends.”

Natsu pulled the car over to the side with a sigh, just a couple of blocks away from her apartment. He turned to look at her, wary and found her looking at him, waiting.

“Luce…” he started. “This could go wrong in so many ways.”

“We won’t let it. Tomorrow, we’ll forget it ever happened.”

He didn’t have time to react because Lucy leaned over and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth, making him yelp. She drew back, but not entirely, stopping just a couple of inches from his face, looking at his face searchingly. He could see mirth in her eyes and she looked so pleased at shocking him.

_ Fine. _“Tomorrow, we’ll forget it ever happened,” he repeated, before smirking at her. 

Satisfied when her eyes widened just a little bit from the look on his face, he closed the distance between them to kiss her fully on the mouth. His hand cupped the back of her neck, holding her in place as he kissed her. He felt her hands moving to unlock his seat belt and as it zapped back to its place, her weight shifted. She climbed on top of him, lips never leaving his as she straddled him. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she moaned into his mouth, and when they finally pulled back for air, they were both breathing heavily, staring at each other. 

“N-No going back now,” said Natsu, his throat dry as he stared up at her, his hands resting on her hips. 

She leaned forward, their noses almost touching as her hand came up to rest against his cheek, grazing his jaw with her thumb. “Sounds good to me,” she whispered sultrily. 

With a growl, his hands unzipped her dress as she worked his shirt off feverishly while he kissed her neck, biting and sucking on her supple skin. Her dress pooled around her hips and he gasped in shock. 

“Why the heck aren’t you wearing a bra,” he asked raspily, unable to keep himself from staring. 

“I told you,” she breathed, planting a kiss on his forehead before bending further to run the tip of her tongue over his jaw. “I dressed for the occasion.”

She felt a low rumble in his chest as he kissed the soft flesh of her breast before biting it gently. She hissed against his neck - _ fuck, that felt good _\- but continued her ministrations, sliding her hands under his shirt, pausing only when she felt his hands slide over her thighs, stopping short of the seam of her underwear. 

“Last chance, Luce,” he said breathily, looking up at her to make sure she understood that she could ask him to stop if she wanted to.

She leaned down to kiss his lips, one hand leaving his hair to grab his hand over her leg, pushing it just a little more so it rested against her now wet core. “That good enough an answer for you?” she whispered against his lips. 

* * *

The ride home was… quiet. Natsu kept his eyes on the road and Lucy had shrunk into the corner of the seat. _ Wow. _ She could feel the light shafing of her underwear against her inner thighs, serving as a reminder to how worn out it had become; it made her wish he’d bothered to remove the panties off of her first. He’d laughed throatily when she’d asked, saying that the material was stringy enough and that he’d just “make it work”. And he had. _ Boy _, he had. 

As she sat in silence, she was momentarily distracted from her mourning her lace underwear, by his hair. It was more dishevelled than she’d ever seen; _ she’d done that _. Both of them had red marks on their neck, and both knew that similar marks were on Lucy’s breasts, and that scratch marks, sharp red lines on the shoulder blades, adorned Natsu’s back and front as well. 

The car stopped at Lucy’s apartment, and they sat in silence, Lucy starting to worry her lower lip but wincing immediately; it was swollen and very mildly bruised from where he bit her. Natsu cleared his throat before looking at her. 

“That was… er, _ nice _,” he said, feeling like that word didn’t even cut it close to how it had actually felt.

“It really was… nice,” she repeated. “We should do it again sometime,” she said, a habitual response to that statement, and her hands immediately flew to cover her mouth.

Natsu raised his eyebrows, looking at her questioningly. “Huh?”

“Habit,” she squeaked, before getting out of the car. 

The seconds her feet hit the ground, she felt her knees shake and she had to compose herself before she could walk. She almost lost her balance again, but steadied herself as she caught the open car door. _ How embarrassing. _She took another slow step, testing, and she managed, but barely.

_ Fuck _ , _ I’m sore. _

Behind her, she heard Natsu snorting with barely contained laughter and she turned around to slam the car door shut, scowling at him. “It’s not funny,” she barked. “This is your fault.”

Natsu didn’t try to suppress his laughter anymore. He cackled, looking at her smugly. “Don’t blame me, it was your idea to go two rounds,” Pause. “Three if you count the-”

“_ Natsu! _” she cut him off, face tinging pink as she remembered the deft and lithe way his fingers had worked her up first.

He laughed lightly. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m completely spent too.”

She flushed brighter, her lips quirking in a small smile. “Idiot.”

“See you tomorrow, Luce,” he said, now grinning at her.

“See you tomorrow,” she nodded, watching as he drove away. 

She was relieved. On their drive here, she was worried about the tension, but it seemed to have dissipated now. 

_ Nothing’s changed after all. _

But deep down, she knew everything had. It felt like a fever dream. So unreal. She never in her wildest dreams thought that this was how the night would end. She’d really had sex with her best friend in the whole world. _ In his car. _And it had been great. So great. Who knew… She shivered again, trying to shake the thoughts out of her head. 

She was glad that it hadn’t been anyone else.


	2. Quiet of the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so idk how the graduation and stuff works elsewhere but in my country, we would ideally start getting job offers based on projected grades before we graduate officially before official summer holidays, and start to work after. Then, we come back to uni a couple months later for the graduation ceremony. Since that’s what I know, that’s how I’ll have it play out in the fic as well!
> 
> PS: Forgive my football terminology, I know nothing :P

The next morning found Lucy in her bed, staring at the ceiling after waking up, thinking about the last night again. She thought it had been a dream first but um, she was still somewhat sore. She huffed, knowing she’d probably never hear the end of it today. 

Grimacing, she got out of bed and turned on the tap in her bathroom. After putting a generous amount of bubble bath liquid in the water, she headed to her cupboard to pick an outfit for the day. Then, as she waited for the bath to fill to the perfect level, she checked her phone to see 24 missed calls Cana, and smacked her forehead.  _ Oh, shit.  _

She called her friend immediately, who picked it up on the first ring. “Where the fuck are you!”

“Uh, home…” she said sheepishly. “I’m sorry I left without telling you.”

“ _ What? _ ” huffed Cana. “You chickened out didn’t you!”

“ _ Hey _ , I did not!” said Lucy indignantly. “I did what I… set out to do.”

Pause.

“Oh  _ really _ ?” asked Cana skeptically. “Who was it?”

“No one you know,” said Lucy automatically. Her friends would never shut up about it if they found out about last night. “We left the club, er, did it in his car and then uh, he dropped me home.”

_ True enough. _

“You screwed a guy… in a  _ car… _ ?” asked Cana. “ _ You _ ?”

“Shut up, Cana, so what if I did. It may not have been very comfortable but it was… nice.”

“Huh. You really did it, didn’t you?”

“ _ Of course I did, _ ” said Lucy incredulously. 

“Good for you, Lucy,” snickered Cana. “Expanding your horizons, I see.”

“Shut up, Cana,” she replied, smiling with amusement. “I gotta go take a shower.”

“Well, well, is  _ someone  _ going to joining you?” teased Cana. 

“ _ Cana _ , I told you, he dropped me home and left!”

“Worth a shot,” said Cana. “Well, now that I know you’re okay, I’ve got… business to attend to.” 

“Business?” asked Lucy knowingly.

“Bacchus.”

“Oh,  _ business.  _ Looks like-” started Lucy, about to tease. 

“Shut up, Lucy,” snapped Cana 

“Bye, Cana,” she laughed. “I’ll see you at class tomorrow.”

Hanging up, she smiled to herself at the thought of the hot bath she would have. It was a Sunday today and she intended to stay in and relax entirely before a hectic week began the next day. As she slipped out of her clothes and was about to step into the bath, she heard her phone ping again. Sighing, she turned around to check…

_ N: How’re you holdin’ up ;) _

Not so good, she knew, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. 

_ L: Great! You? _

_ N: Good.  _

Pause. 

Lucy was wondering how to respond to that, or if that warranted a response. Of course, it did, but what should she say? Maybe she should change the subject and - 

_ N: Hey, Luce, we’re good right? _

She typed quickly.  _ L: Of course we are!  _

_ N: Okay. _

_ N: Good.  _

_ N: I’m glad.  _

_ N: Whatcha doin’ today? _

_ L: Nothing. Literally. I plan to chill at home all day. _

They went back and forth this way for a couple of minutes before Lucy realized that her bath would get cold, and excusing herself, she set the phone aside and slipped into the water. Enjoying the heat of the water against her skin. She looked down to see that the… marks… from last night - dotting her collarbone and her breasts - had turned almost purple now. She stared at them, heat rushing to her face.

In the privacy of her bathroom, she was somewhat mortified as she remembered the things she’d said. She hadn’t been  _ drunk  _ drunk, but she’d been tipsy; that was the only explanation to the things she’d said, rather  _ moaned _ , while they…  _ did it.  _ He was either going to tease her relentlessly about the things she’d said, or he’d pretend like nothing had happened. The latter was unlikely. He would definitely tease her.

She sank a little in her bathtub so her eyes were level with the surface of the water. 

_ Oh, god.  _

* * *

When he climbed into her room through the window that night, as per usual, he surprisingly didn’t say a word about it. They slipped into an argument about how Natsu still hadn’t finished his assignment for their class the next day, which had concluded with Lucy giving in as she usually did and helping him finish up. Natsu wasn’t  _ not  _ smart; he just didn’t care enough… until a day before the deadline. 

As he was about to leave, he turned to look at her, a wary look on his face as she saw the debate on his face. “What? Spit it out!”

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, cheeks flaring a light pink. “You might want to er, use a scarf or er, make up tomorrow to cover the… uh…” he said, before pointing to her neck. 

Her eyes widened as she saw where he was pointing, the marks dark and very visible against her pale skin. 

“Ah, shit,” she muttered, earning a nervous chuckle from him. 

“I’m sorry, I guess?” he said, cocking his head at her. “I didn’t know you had such er, sensitive skin.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” she said casually, chuckling lightly. “It’ll take a couple days to fade.”

“Okay,” he said, stepping towards the window. He, for some reason, always used the window as entry and exit point. No matter how much she insisted, he’d never use the door. From the very first year of college to now, their final year, she didn’t think he’d ever used the door once. 

“Good night, Natsu,” she said smiling, following him to the window. 

He planted a kiss on her cheek, surprising her, saying “Good night, Luce,” before hopping onto the window sill so he could reach for the nearest tree branch. 

* * *

Next day at lunch, Lucy wasn’t exactly surprised when Cana told the rest of the girls that Lucy finally “got some”. Erza looked up with interest, her eyes glinting.

“Wow, I never thought I’d live to see this day,” she said. 

Lucy let out an awkward laugh, shrugging.

“Tell us  _ everything _ ,” said Cana, Levy nodding in agreement. “Where’d you do it? How was he? Was there use of hands? Was it any good?”

She looked around to see Erza and Levy’s expectant faces. Truth be told, if it had been anyone else, she might just have told them. So if she  _ didn't  _ right now, it would only make them suspicious. And so she gave as much as she could without giving away the more important details... like the name of the guy. It was all good, and even somewhat funny, until Natsu and Gray joined them.

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” asked Natsu.

Lucy made some space for him and as he sat next to her, she was about to change the subject to something else, hoping her friends would catch on, but unfortunately, Cana beat her to it. 

“Lucy here was telling us about how she got laaaaaid this weekend,” she snickered, making Lucy flush. Her friends could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Levy started to giggle softly while Erza’s lips twitched in a smile.

“Was she now?” asked Natsu, quirking a brow as he watched her with amusement, grabbing a couple of fries from her lunch.

“What,  _ Lucy _ ? No way,” said Gray in disbelieve.

“Well, you better believe it, Gray,” said Lucy indignantly, offended by his disbelieving tone. 

“And in a  _ stranger’s  _ car no less…” added Erza.

“ _ Erza! _ ”

“Oh? Wow, who would’ve thought,” laughed Natsu, throwing an arm around Lucy’s shoulder as he pulled her into his side. 

“And that’s not all,” chimed in Levy, lowering her voice, giggling as she continued. “Apparently he was quite good with his hands.”

“ _ Levy!! _ ” hissed Lucy, feeling his grip around her shoulder tighten just a little. She wished the ground would swallow her whole because Natsu was now looking at her, eyebrows raised. She was never going to hear the end of it now, she just knew it. 

_ Oh god.  _

How was she supposed to ever forget, like it had never happened as she’d promised she would, if she was being reminded of it practically every waking second? Talking about it or being reminded of it did  _ things  _ to her, and it didn’t help that right now she was practically pressed into his side.

_ Seriously, Lucy? _

She chided herself, flushing pink again. 

“So. Hands, huh?”

“ _ Natsu _ !  _ Shut up _ !” she whined, starting to leave. 

Laughing, he caught her wrist and sat her down down again. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.”

When he heard her grunt, he couldn’t help himself as he said, “I really am flattered though.”

She smacked his arm real hard this time, a scowl on her face as he cackled till she pursed her lips and turned away from him. She could still hear him snickering under his breath, and decided that she had to do what she did best; change the subject.

“So, what’re your plans for the summer?”

Natsu nodded thoughtfully. “Hopefully I’ll land a job before we graduate.”

“I’m sure you will,” assured Lucy. “Your grades have gotten really good, so don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, I suppose not,” said Natsu. “I am excited for the summer. I am going to visit my family after so long! Zeref’s going to be there too!”

“Oh, that’s great!” said Lucy, smiling brightly. 

The last three years, Natsu hadn’t really left Crocus to go see his family at Magnolia because he chose to take up full time jobs in the city to earn money. His older brother had visited sporadically throughout their time in college, and on some occasions, his mother would drop by along with his younger sister, Wendy; the visits became infrequent once Wendy joined the same university this year. 

“I’m happy for you. I’ll probably go home too. At least for a week, to see my father. He was away on a business trip last winter break, so I didn’t get to see him,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe even pay Sting a little visit.”

Natsu remembered her cousin. Distant cousin, and he wasn’t even sure how they were related. He was super goofy and called Lucy ‘kid’ all the time, which annoyed her to no end, but he did it anyway. He played football for a minor league team, Sabretooth, if he remembered correctly. They were climbing through the ranks quickly though, which was actually pretty admirable.

He was about to say something when Erza said something that caught everyone’s attention. “Before I forget, I was thinking... After the last day of the term, we should all go on a road trip together. It might be the last time we’re all in the same place at the same time…” she said, looking around at everyone, waiting for an answer, which of course, was affirmative.

“That’s settled then,” said Erza pleased. “I’ll text you all when the details are worked out,” she said, eyes glinting. 

Erza loved planning, and so they never interfered. She was scary enough as is, but when she was planning? A monster, a literal monster. Besides, she planned immaculately and everything went flawlessly, so there was no harm, actually. They knew she’d get back to them in exactly three days.

“Any preferences?” she asked suddenly, as if she had just remembered.

A couple of suggestions were thrown out - the beach, the forests, mountains - and Erza nodded to each one of them before promising them sombrely that she’d do the best she could. 

The rest of the day went by without much hassle and as they parted ways for the day, Natsu’s eye caught a peek of the marks on Lucy’s neck, as she slid into her car and her seat belt shifted the scarf around her neck a little. 

“What?” she asked, looking up consciously when she felt him staring at her. 

“Er, nothing,” said Natsu, shaking his head sheepishly, looking away as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll er, see you tonight.”

“Okay, see you!” she said, as she revved the engine. “What’re we having for dinner?”

“I’ll get something,” said Natsu, assuring her and then bidding her goodbye as she rolled up the windows of her car and drove away.

He grumbled to himself as he walked back to his apartment, only a block away. It was one thing teasing her because he really did enjoy annoying the crap out of her; her reactions were amusing to say the least. Especially when she got all flustered like that. But it was hard enough to just  _ forget  _ last night while keeping up with the teasing, which he had  _ tried  _ to keep a minimum today but there were some opportunities that had been too good to pass. 

Like, that hand comment for instance. Since then, it was weird because he kept thinking,  _ Oh, so she liked what I did with my hands _ , which would lead him to further think about what he actually  _ did  _ do with his hands. And obviously, as a result, he’d, well, relive the night again. The sight of the purplish marks on her neck hadn’t helped. 

_ This is Lucy’s fault, _ he thought, disgruntled, and decided that when he went to her place that night, he would give her a piece of his mind. 

* * *

He forgot about it when he beat her at a videogame. Technically, he always did. She played because she enjoyed beating up “pixel people” and never really played competitively, but it did get on her nerves when he wouldn’t shut up about his victory while she mumbled, “It’s only because I don’t ever try, you know?”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he grinned hopping off the chair as he went off to her kitchen. She mumbled something as she followed him, complaining half-heartedly, the way she always did, about how she kept needing to refill her groceries frequently because of him. Never did she really try to stop him though; he made  _ mean  _ sandwiches. Hopping onto the kitchen stool as she watched him make them a sandwich, she revelled in the quiet, her mind automatically running over the day.

_ “Are you sure you don’t remember his name?” Sceptical Levy. _

_ Vehement shaking of the head. “I don’t believe we even discussed it.” Please stop discussing this now.  _

_ “That’s so unlike you,” said Erza, watching her friend curiously. _

_ “I for one am glad,” hollered Cana, repeating her words from last morning. “You’re finally expanding your horizons.” _

_ “Shut up, Cana,” she muttered. “I don’t think I’ll do that again.” _

_ “That’s how it all begins,” said Cana sagely. “Before you know it, it’ll get thrilling and you-” _

_ “Cana,  _ ** _stop_ ** **,** _ ” insisted Lucy again.  _

Her words were apparently futile because none of her friends would shut up about it through classes. It didn’t help that she was terrified that he would hear. It really had been a mistake telling her friends  _ anything  _ even if it left out an important detail.

_ “So you like it rough. I should’ve known.” _

_ “ _ ** _I _ ** _ wish someone would ravish  _ ** _me_ ** _ so hard that I have to get new underwear.” _

Her constant admonishing had only fuelled her friends’ words, but luckily Levy and Erza got quiet some time soon. Cana on the other hand refused to keep her mouth shut. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” asked Natsu, voice low, startling her out of her thoughts. 

He was leaning against her kitchen counter, arms crossed against his chest as he looked at her curiously.

“About the other night,” she admitted. “I know I said I’d forget about it, but just…  _ throughout the day _ the girls wouldn’t shut up about it and-”

“I’ve been thinking about it too,” he said, cutting her off seriously. He watched as her eyes got a little wide, and she started to wring her hands in nervousness. It did…  _ something _ … to him when she got that flustered.

“Oh,” is all she said, now unable to meet his eyes as she worried her lower lip. “What do we do now?”

He watched her nibble at her lower lip furiously, and had the weirdest idea that he’d rather be doing that.  _ Huh.  _ Somehow, unthinkingly, he’d inched closer to her and she was looking up at him wide eyed. Her hands brushed at his arm lightly, making him shiver a little. Instinctively, he used his knees to push against hers to allow himself to stand between her legs. 

_ What are we doing? _

She tore her eyes away from his face to look straight ahead and at his chest, her mind going a mile a minute. She wondered if she was imagining the tension in the air or if she was reading too much into the dark look she’d just seen pass through his eyes. She swallowed nervously before looking back up at him, and she could see it. There was no doubt. His already dark eyes were shrouded in that same haze she’d seen in them that night. Unconsciously, she licked her lips and she  _ felt  _ the low rumble in his chest.

“I don’t think,” he started raspily. “That this plan of just forgetting about it, is working very well.”

The way he sounded made her the hair on the back of her neck raise, and she almost shuddered, hyper aware of how close he was. Of the way his fingertips had just lightly grazed the top of her thighs before settling on them. Her mind was already starting to run wild. 

“Just… don’t tear my underwear this time,” she said, voice low as she clutched his shirt to bring him forward for a searing kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you come at me at how Lucy playing that way that may not make sense, *I* am terrible at video games but I play them because I just enjoy the punching and racing and stuff. I am terrible at it though. SO so bad, lmaoooo


	3. No Rules

Lucy rolled off of him, her mind disoriented as she tried to fully revel in the receding waves of pleasure that were now rolling off of her body. Her eyes glanced sidewards to her... _best friend..._ his hair all mussed up, breathing heavily as he stared at the ceiling. His cheeks were flush and to her satisfaction, he seemed as dazed as she was. Her eyes had started to trace his silhouette in the dark when his eyes flickered to her. She averted her gaze immediately to look at the ceiling, ignoring his soft chuckle as he nestled just a little bit on her side, his bare hip brushing against hers. The thought brought her attention to the mild soreness on her hip, where he had gripped her tightly as thrust up into her.

She her cheeks flush as she remembered some of the things she'd enjoyed last night, surprising both her and Natsu. 

_ "You like this, don't you?" _ he had asked with surprise and she had whimpered in response, her eyes fluttering shut when she felt her callous fingers close around her throat again in a gentle grip.

Her face now feeling like it was on fire, she sat up, and swung her legs off the side of the bed, shuddering slightly as the cold floor met the soles of her feet. S he moved her loose hair to the front on one side, letting it hang over her breast, sighing with another shudder when she felt a draft of cold air hit the sweaty back of her neck. She felt the mattress shift as Natsu turned to his side as well, watching her as his bare knees pressed into her lower back. She felt his hand brush her hips lightly before gliding to a rest on the top of her thigh and she suppressed a small shudder that threatened to ripple through her body as she breathed heavily.

“You okay?” he asked softly, eyes boring into her bare back, gleaming in beads of sweat. The skin around her hips where he’d held her was starting to discolour, turning maroon slowly, but surely. His hands brushed the bruise delicately, and without really thinking, he kissed the marks on both of her hips lightly, eliciting the softest of gasps from her.

_ What the- Why in the heck did I do that?  _ He thought, cheeks flooding with colour. He prayed she wouldn't ask him about it because he had no idea how to explain why he had done that. He himself didn't know why he'd done that. Swallowing thickly, he watched her tense back anxiously and had the sudden urge to laugh; it felt bizarre that  _ that’s  _ what he felt embarrassed about after everything that had just transpired in the room. The cussing, the groans, the places their hands had been, the… _ requests _ . He felt heat pulling into his core again at the thought of it, and curled into himself just a little bit. 

“Uh, I’m going to go clean up,” said Lucy softly, standing up and heading to the bathroom, not bothering to cover herself.

He watched her leave the room carefully, feet slightly unsteady. Nope, she didn't seem mad. Or upset. _Phew. _Heaving a sigh of relief, he lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling as he heard the shower turn on. His eyes fell on the framed photo of him and Lucy on her nightstand, the one they'd taken at the end of their second semester; his arm was draped around her shoulders and he was grinning and she looked annoyed. At least she was pretending to be, he knew, at the fact that he had forced her out of her apartment of being cooped up in it for a week over a particularly difficult assignment. It'd been a great day. The more he looked at the picture, the more in disbelief he was about where he was and what he'd just done. The guy in that photo would have never, in his wildest dreams, have thought he'd ever sleep with the girl nestled into his side with faux annoyance. 

_Funny how things turn out._  


At the back of his mind, something was brewing, something he could already tell was a really ugly thought, and he pushed it away. It was silly to get worked up over something like this anyway; so, he and Lucy slept together. So what? Grunting, he sat up on her bed and looked around for his boxers, finding them under her nighstand. Slipping them on, he stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the room.

_A mess._  


All her things from her desk were strewn on the floor, it was how far they’d made it from the kitchen, her legs wrapped around his torso as he swept her things off the desk before setting her on it. The table was bare now save for the bra he’d taken off of her, and her panties were… well, he didn’t remember where he’d thrown them. 

His cheeks burned again, as it hits him.  _ His best friend.  _ How had things gotten so hot, so fast? 

Mumbling under his breath, he started to take her sheets off the bed, bunching them up and heading to the bathroom where she kept her laundry bin. He walked into the bathroom, heading straight to the flower patterned laundry hamper on the far end.

“Luce, I’m just dropping off the, er, soiled bed sheets in your hamper,” he called as he started to walk out. 

He heard the shuffle of plastic curtain and her head poked out of the shower booth, blonde hair stuck to her face. His eyes widened just a little at the sight of her because the curtain was not really doing a very good job of hiding her body; it was translucent, and he could easily make out the curves behind it. "Thanks, Natsu," she said, grinning at him as she tried to blink a trickle of shampoo dripping down her hair, out of her eye.

“No need to thank me,” he muttered, reaching forward to wipe the sud off her eye. “We were both equally responsible for the er, mess.”

  
Blinking rapidly with a slight shake of her head, she looked at him sheepishly for a moment, face almost apologetic. Then, her eyes searched the bathroom before finally landing on a point to his right. “Step back, and turn around.”

“What, why?” he asked frowning. 

“I need to get out of the shower to grab my towel," she replied, jerking her head towards the hook where she had placed her towel.

Natsu followed her gaze and found the pink turkey towel hanging on the wall adjacent to the shower booth and handed it to her himself. “It’s not like I haven’t already seen everything anyway,” he said with a shrug. 

Lucy flushed red and drew her head back into the booth after accepting the towel, before stepping out of the cubicle, wrapped in it. Natsu didn’t react but in his head, he was tracing the beads of water gliding down her shoulder and tracing her collar bone before disappearing into the towel. She was wringing her hair, completely oblivious as her exposed neck gleamed with moisture; there was a purple mark there as well, right at the spot where her neck met the shoulder.

“What?” she asked suddenly when he took an unsure step towards her. 

He stopped short and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Nothing. I should, er, go.”

“No breakfast?” she asked, surprised before narrowing her eyes when he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Natsu, what’s wrong?”

Natsu huffed, looking at her measuredly. “You’re looking so...” he mumbled, trailing away as he gestured in her general direction. 

And she understood, but instead of chiding him the way he had expected her to...

“ _ Natsu _ ,” she whined. “I literally just cleaned up!”

“Yeah, it’s weird- Wait, what? I didn’t say I wanted to...” he said, blinking at her as he realized the implications of what she’d said. “I… So, if you hadn’t just showered… You’re saying... Would... you want to?”

“You  _ don’t  _ want to?” she asked, quizzically. 

She stood rooted to the spot when he covered the space between them slowly. He stared down at her, eyes wary and searching. She licked her lips nervously, breath hitching slightly as she looked up at him, at the way his gaze was locked on her lips. His eyes were lit up in a way she’d now grown accustomed to. She shivered a little in anticipation when she felt his hand traced her collar bone, and  _ God, when did it become like this? _

_ My best friend. _

Both of them had the thought at the same time, as Natsu dropped his hand, wide-eyed as he took a step back. He watched her unsurely, feeling confused at whatever was happening. They’d known each other for four years now, and yet, he’d never really looked at her that way. Sure, she was hot. He knew that, objectively speaking, but he’d never really reacted this way. 

“It appears,” she rasped with a throaty chuckle. “That we’ve reached a conundrum.”

Natsu let out a soft laugh as well, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the kitchen, sipping coffee quietly, mulling over their words in their heads. Both of them were pointedly ignoring his shirt from last night on the floor and her t-shirt that he'd practically ripped off of her lay ignored next Natsu's elbow on the breakfast counter. It shouldn’t be as hard as it was, they reasoned, right? (wrong, of course it was hard. It's extremely hard when you feel like you can't keep your hands off of someone you considered your best friend for at least four years).  Natsu was half tempted to just break the tension with a joke about how this was Lucy’s fault for suggesting it in the first place but instead, the words tumbled out of his mouth as he said what he was actually thinking.

“It’s because the sex is so good,” he said suddenly, making Lucy look at him with big eyes. “I mean, very objectively speaking, the sex is  _ really  _ good,” he said again. 

“I- Yeah,” she nodded. “You… really know what you’re doing.”

“Especially with my hands,” he teased smiling just a little. Pause. He considered telling her she knew how to work her mouth; but his cheeks reddened at how provocative and well, _crude _that might come off as, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Especially with your hands,” she agreed, her face flushing just a little bit, oblivious to the subtle way he'd just smacked a hand lightly against his head as if to get rid of a thought. Setting her coffee mug down, she leaned forward, her elbows resting on the breakfast countertop. “So what now?”

“We’re best friends…” started Natsu, leaning onto the table as well. 

“Yeah,” she sighed. “That does complicate things a little bit.”

“I  _ told  _ you,” he muttered before he could stop himself.

“Yeah, I know,” she mumbled, cursing her brain for ceasing to overthink the  _ one  _ time it actually would’ve made a big difference. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, what, no don’t be  _ sorry _ !” he said immediately, reaching out to hold her hand. “Takes two to tango.”

“ _ Great _ tango though,” she said, letting out a strained chuckle. _What is** wrong** with me._

“Really great,” he agreed. 

“So we, er, stop doing… the tango?”

“Why are you _asking_ me?” he asked suspiciously. “Do you  _ want  _ to  _ not  _ stop?”

Lucy pursed her lips. “I should want to. But you just…  _ dance... _ so well.”

_ Wow. That’s the third time in two minutes I’ve said that…  _ _ Although this is just an implication. Using a  _ ** _really _ ** _stupid metaphor_ _ . _

“I don’t want to stop either. Your… tango moves are great.”

_ Good god, is this how we're gonna keep talking without  _ ** _actually_ ** _ talking?! And what a terrible metaphor. _

_ Ugh.  _

“Okay, look,” started Natsu, finally. No point beating around the bush anymore. Straight to the point it is. Straight. To. The. Point. “Clearly, we’re… having fun…?” his statement turning in a question as he looked at her, nervous that he might have used the wrong word.

But Lucy nodded immediately. “The sex is  _ really _ good,” she said, feeling stupid for saying it again. _Was that the third? Fourth? Or was it fifth? If he didn't understand that before, he **sure **does now_. “Very objectively speaking, of course.”

“Right, objectively speaking, it is,” he agreed. “So, maybe you know, we can keep doing it,” he said, adding, “Objectively,” when her brows shot up. 

“Objectively,” she repeated, eyes flickering to him as she mulled over the idea in her head. “So… no strings…. sttached?” she asked unsurely. “Natsu-”

“Okay, look, I know what you’re gonna say,” saud Natsu, rubbing the back of his head. “We could get hurt, or… whatever. But… I’m  _ me  _ and you’re  _ you.  _ We’re best friends. I’d never hurt you and-”

“I would never hurt you either,” said Lucy quickly, her other hand quickly covering both their hands. 

“I know,” he smiled, grinning full-fledgedly before he continued. “So… We’ve both have had a bit of dry spell for  _ months  _ anyway, so we can just be two people, who have mind blowing sex, while being best friends.”

“So… fuck buddies,” she said slowly, eyes narrowed as she tried to think this through. 

“Yes,” said Natsu, scrunching his nose at her choice of words and hesitating before adding, “Who love each other.  _ Platonically _ .”

_ That’s bizarre. It makes no sense. It doesn’t sound possible. It’s surely going to make things complicated. It can’t possibly be that simple, right? _

“Sounds good to me,” she said instead, hiding behind her coffee mug as he chuckled. “So are there any rules, or…”

“ _ Whaaat,  _ come on, Luce,” he said petulantly. “ _ No rules _ .”

“But what if-”

“It’s pretty simple, Luce. We just tell the other when one of us wants to stop,” Pause. “You know, for whatever reason.” 

_ For when we find someone we want to date,  _ she finishes the thought in her head, feeling a little sullen because it didn’t sound ‘pretty simple’. It felt like he was oversimplifying everything, but then again, that’s what he did and she was the overthinker of the duo. Flurried thoughts of how simplest things could go wrong was  _ her  _ thing. Except for that time when she’d suggested they have sex in the first place, and she wasn’t even  _ that  _ drunk. But maybe whatever “logic” had been running through her head that night, was truly the right approach. 

_ Best friends. Great sex. No rules.  _

Sounded unrealistic, but looking at Natsu smiling at her, as though it was that siimple, made her think otherwise. Maybe this really was that simple. 

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do y'all hate me omg, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK pleeease


	4. Bad, Bad Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here! This chapter has me slightly on edge, as well. I know this seems like a filler, but I promise I *am* going somewhere with this. I feel like in fics like this, build-up is everything or it just isn't as effective. This could be considered mild smut? I couldn't really star mark it properly because it's like, scattered across... Obviously didn't go too deep into it because idk for reasons you don't care about probably, but sitll... slkfdlknfn. I tried lel. LET ME KNOWWWWWWWW, ILY ALLLLL! And review responses at the end! xoxo

The one unsaid rule of course was none of their friends needed to find out. They were supremely meddlesome and it was better when it was secret; when no one was there to ask them any questions.

But _other than _that, once the no-rules rule had been established, it happened more often than it should. Her apartment, his, once in the bathroom at the bar, twice in his car and once in hers and well, so on and so forth.

Their eyes would meet across the room and they'd excuse themselves from whatever company they were having. Sometimes, they would just be hanging out when maybe Lucy's top would slide up too high or her pajamas would be too skimpy and he would have her pinned down, showering kisses down her jawline. Maybe he would get too close while reaching for something in the kitchen or he would look particularly enticing in his gym shorts, so she'd slide an arm around the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss. Sometimes they'd just wake up the next morning, hungry, not necessarily for breakfast, and go for another round.

It was one such morning.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open at the feeling of a soft kiss on her neck, at the same time as a hand trailed a path from her hip to her inner thigh. She groaned softly, almost a whine, earning a chuckle from Natsu who gripped her tighter. Within moments, he's on top of her, knees on either side of her hips, her hands tangled in his hair as they started to kiss again.

"Good morning," she said against his lips, and only gets a soft grunt in response as his fingers wound themselves in her hair.

She let out a ragged laugh as his lips trailed down to her chin and to her throat, kissing her collarbone. Her hands curl in his hair, tugging in anticipation as he moves lower and a breathy sigh was on the tip of her tongue when a loud call from the living room made them both stiffen.

"Lu?"

"L-Levy?" she called out, trying to sit up, but he had her pinned onto the bed.

"Your friend left his boxers over from last night," Levy giggled, making Lucy flush again as she tried to push Natsu off of her.

"_Natsu_!" she huffed, but he only chuckled against her throat as he simple made to pick up where he left off.

"Y-You're home early," said Lucy loudly, trying to keep her voice steady as he began to suck on the sensitive skin over her collar bone.

"Yeah, Gajeel got called to work so I decided to just come back home for breakfast. We decided to meet for lunch tomorrow instead," said Levy, before giggling. "Looks like you had an interesting night…"

"Er… Yes, I did," said Lucy, her eyes meeting Natsu's mischievous eyes. He blatantly ignored her warning glare as his fingers trailed through the valley between her breasts to allow his thumb to graze the sensitive skin on the underside.

Lucy bit down on her lip to keep herself from making any noise and her fingers tightened their hold on his hair, tugging. He didn't relent however as she felt his bare chest rumble with laughter against her stomach, as his fingers journeyed southwards.

"Lu, honestly who is this mystery guy," came Levy's voice and then footsteps approached the door to her bedroom.

"_Natsu, the door_!" she hissed, and as soon as she felt him let go of her with a grunt, she sprang off the bed and got to the door just in time to lock it. Heaving a sigh of relief she leaned her forehead against the door.

"Is it just one guy… Or…." Levy trailed away with a giggle and she was almost at the door.

Lucy froze against the door when she felt his heat against her bare back as he kissed her neck from behind, muttering, "Yeah, Luce… Is it just one guy… Any more that I should know about?"

She turned around to give him a piece of his mind but he caged her against the door, hands on either side of her face.

"Levy will hear us," she whispered frantically as he showered kisses along her jaw, nipping ever once in a while before using his tongue to soothe the sting.

"Then I guess you'll just have to be quiet," he said, kissing her fully on the mouth as he pressed his body against hers, trapping her against the door.

"Lu?" asked Levy, frowning at the sudden silence from her best friend's room.

Lucy felt the door shake against her bare back as Levy tried to open the door to her bedroom. Natsu's lips left hers as his mouth worked it's way back to her jaw, then her collar bone, before moving to her breasts.

"H-Hey, Levy."

"Are you alright? You went quiet there for a while," asked Levy, knocking lightly on the door.

"I'm o-okay, Levy," said Lucy, holding back a gasp as she felt his mouth against her core, making her head fall back against the door with a soft thud.

"Are you sure? The door's locked and your door is never-"

"L-Lev, I'm a little…" said Lucy quickly, cutting her off, almost gasping as she felt his tongue sift through her wetness. She clamped down on her lower lip, her winding in his pink hair, as she inhaled deeply, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "Busy," she said, almost yelping when she felt his teeth scrape gently against her sensitive nerves. "Can we… _please… _talk about this later."

There was a heavy silence that followed her words, followed by Levy's gasp of realization. "Oh. _Oh. _Lu! Are you… Is he… OH. I'm sorry. I… I will just…"

And when Lucy finally heard her friend's footsteps scurry away, she sagged against the door in relief, squeaking once again as his tongue entered her. Her hands came to rest on his shoulders as they left his hair for something to grip, making him hiss against her as her nails dug into him lightly.

"Why… Why would you do that?" she huffed, the words coming out in a short gasp.

He didn't respond, and continued to work her up as his hands went to her behind, gripping so tight that she was sure she would have hand prints on her ass after. Feeling his tongue flick inside her, she let herself groan with little restraint.

"_Oh, god_," she breathed, her eyes closing again as she struggled to breathe a lungful of air. "_Yes…_ Na-"

Her throaty groan was cut off by his lips, as he drew his tongue out of her with lightning speed and her mind was devoid of the complaint as she tasted herslf in his mouth. Both his hands had snaked around her waist pulling him flush against him as he kissed her, before he drew back breathlessly, just as her hands had locked around his head.

"I… I was so close,' she complained breathlessly, very aware of his erection against her wet core.

"You were about to say my name," he muttered, kissing her jaw as he lifted her up lightly. Her legs automatically wound themselves around his waist as she smirked at him.

"Are you going to pretend that doesn't turn you on?" she asked, lightly grinding herself against him, eyebrow quirked.

"I'm not going to pretend anything of that sort," he snorted, setting her down on the bed, caging her in again. "Levy would've heard you," he explained. "So, no names, Luce. Not right now." and giving her no time to respond, simply picked up where he left off.

Later, when they were lying in her bed, completely spent again, Natsu inhaled deeply before his gaze flickered to Lucy. Her face glistened with sweat, her knuckles white as she clutched her sheet against her chest tightly. Sighing, he turned to his side, his movement causing her eyes to find his.

"What?" she asked self consciously.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked, adding, "I can practically hear you overthinking," when she started to deny anything.

She puffed her cheeks and she turned to her side as well. "I was just thinking… about what a close call that was."

Natsu snickered, making her slap his arm playfully. "It's not funny! You made it worse!" she complained.

"No, it wasn't funny," Natsu agreed. "It was, however, pretty hot."

"You have the weirdest kinks," she laughed.

"Says the one who likes being choked," he chortled in response.

She stopped laughing and frowned at him. "That's not a… weird kink. I'll have you know, many people are into it."

Natsu only laughed at that as he turned to lay on his back again, hands behind his head. He felt Lucy sidle up next to him and heard her chuckle softly.

"What?"

"This is… nice," she said, her hands now drawing patterns on his bare chest.

"I think we established that a while ago, Luce," he chuckled.

"No, I mean… this arrangement," she hummed, making him look at her sideways questioningly. "It's easier than I thought it'd be. I was… worried, at first," she admitted, her hand pausing as she drew it back to tuck under her chin. "About things getting complicated. But this isn't so bad, this whole friends-with-benefits thing. In fact, it's anything but bad."

Natsu went back to stare at the ceiling, as he nodded. "Yeah, it seems like this is exactly what we both needed," he murmured, one hand unconsciously brushing against the mattress, snaking around her bare waist as he started to trail his fingers absent-mindedly along her back.

They both lay in companiable silence for some time before Natsu sat up sighing and ran a hand through his hair. "I should go."

"Why?" she asked, almost whining as she sat up as well.

He chuckled at her, shaking his head. "We have our final assignment submission coming up soon, Luce. Don't wanna mess that up now, do I?"

Lucy huffed and fell back on the bed with a groan, as she ran a hand down her face. "Oh, _god _yes. And then the final exams the week after."

Laughing quietly at her, he went about the room picking up his clothes as she watched him for a few seconds before reluctantly stepping out of her bed to find her own. Just as she clasped her bra back on and slipped into her underwear, he finally stilled and straightened before grunting in annoyance and glared at the door.

"What?" asked Lucy, looking at him curiously.

"My underwear," he muttered, and she started to laugh.

"What? Don't just stand there, go get them back," he whined.

Lucy started towards the door, shaking her head before pausing and turning on her heel to go to her cupboard. Shuffling around, he watched curiously till she stood back up and threw something at him. He caught it deftly, looking at her questioningly.

"_Or _you could wear mine," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

His head shot down as he opened his palm to stare at the familiar lacey black panties.

She had dragged him to the lingerie store a year or so ago, much to his embarrassment, to help her pick. _I need the opinion of a guy on the sexiness factor_, she'd said. He had sat there, arms crossed and chest huffed as she showed him various pieces. Finally, he'd caught sight of black underwear with some dull gold trimmings and shoved it into her hands.

_"This is the one. Black would look good on you," _he had mumbled, as he pushed her towards the cashier.

_"Well then I'll try it on and-"_

_"No!" _he had exclaimed, already tired of the shop and the suggestive glances everyone was giving him and Lucy as he stood behind her while she browsed; it made him super uncomfortable. "_I'm tellin' ya, it'll look great. Now just get it and let's go eat. I'm starving."_

She had responded with an eye roll and conceded. But that wasn't the last time he'd seen it. The last time he'd seen it was when they'd returned from Gray's birthday party. He was sitting at the breakfast counter of his kitchen, chin resting on his hand back, talking to her about something he didn't remember anymore, as she prepared them both some tea. She raised herself on her toes, hopping just a little bit to swipe the tea bags off the top shelf when her already short skirt hiked up a lot higher briefly, giving him a glimpse of the black lace with the gold. She had turned to look at him in triumph, hand holding the tea box aloft, only to find him staring at her intensely.

"_What?_" she'd asked cautiously.

"_What do you know,_" he'd said, cocking his head to one side as he stood up, walking towards her with a playful smile. "_It really _**_does_**_ look good on you_."

That was how another one of their "escapades" had begun, and ended on the couch in her living room.

In the present, he stared at the panties in his hand, only looking up when Lucy giggled. "If I remember correctly, that one's a favourite."

"It's the colour," he mumbled, making her cackle harder.

Fifteen minutes, he climbed out of her window, promising revenge for not retrieving his boxers for him.

"I look forward to it," she said, winking.

He shook his head at her, eliciting another laugh from her as he waved her a goodbye and walked around the block to where he'd parked his car.

They had many close calls afterward as well, but something about the secrecy had become borderline addictive.

This whole no-rules thing was fun.

Until it wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF I started working on like 8 more fics, and I'm going MENTAL. My thoughts are ALL OVER the place but like, I WANT to do it because I love two of the ideas SO MUCH. Make that three. But my brain is sdnfkjbnmxamcdfnguilmo. I need some organization, phew. I really like the arranged marriage one and one that is a fantasy-ish, high-school-ish au. RAISE YOUR HANDS IF YOU WANT A SNEAK PEEK OF IT ALONG WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER. (Wow, I really am a shameless self-promoter. Whaddya know.)
> 
> Oh, and this chapter, in case you don't understand, is sort of to reiterate their friendship along with what's going on b/w them. As in, like, all said and done - fuck buddies and everything - they're still best friends, so I wanted to retain some of that so that when... things start going south you will... YOU KNOW...?
> 
> Also. Drop me prompts if you want on Tumblr, literally any kind, no restriction! Prompts actually make it easy for me to write fics because they serve so well as warm-ups! My username on Tumblr is yogicturtle!


	5. In the Glow of the Vending Machine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before going into this, once again, I need to explain to you guys that I've modelled their uni based on the kind in my country. Idk how it worked for you guys, but here, the placement process begins before your final exams when different companies and organisations come to the college to scope out potential employees. They take their pick and the second the final exam results are out, if the grade meets the requirement (the final requirement) you're immediately hired. So it's like "Ok everything looks good, if you pass the exams/score XYZ in the exams, this job is yours" kind of a deal.

It was the finals week. In fact, it was the last day of finals week and tensions were running high as everyone tried to gather their last ounces of energy to just  _ finish the goddamn exam.  _ There was also some excitement in the air, as amidst the tension, everyone thought of their plans for summer as graduates. Ambitious plans had been made and they couldn’t wait to have fun. Have fun without feeling guilty over leftover assignments, that is. 

The first to finish the exam was Natsu. His yell of triumph was heard in all the classrooms on the corridor as he submitted his paper, slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom, grinning unapologetically at his friends who looked at him enviously. 

Half an hour later, Erza was giving out instructions and going over the intinerary for their vacation that they were taking off on early the next day. Their destination was the Akane Beach resort, where Cana and the Strauss siblings would join them. They’d be taking scenic route to the resort, which Erza said they should reach in a day by car; they’d stay at a motel on the way for the night before. They’d spend five nights at the resort, and take the longer coastal route back home, which she estimated would take one night and two days. Everyone would take turns driving of course. 

“And there’s a meadow with a little creek running through it on the way there, where we can stop by for a picnic!” she said excitedly.

_ Of course they could.  _

* * *

The motel was dingy, but Natsu couldn’t care less. He was just glad that they were on a holiday. He was relaxed and he hadn’t felt this way in a long time. Everyone, in fact, seemed to be in a great mood. There was a lazy air about them as the gang filed out of the two cars they were travelling in - Gray’s sedan and Lucy’s SUV. Slow in their movements, possibly from the idea that there wasn’t a single deadline waiting for them around the corner, they got their luggage out, chattering as they walked to the reception. 

Twenty minutes later, everyone was heading to their rooms. Gajeel and Levy shared a room; he had finally gotten the nerve to ask her out a few weeks before their final exans. Lucy, Juvia and Erza shared a room, as did Jellal, Gray and Natsu. After dropping of the luggage, the girls headed to the guys’ room; here, they discussed how they’d each messed up in their exams, much to Natsu’s chagrin. 

“There’s no point discussing this,” he whined. “Must we ruin the damn holiday mood?”

“I must be prepared,” said Erza, seriously. “I hate the waiting. I don’t want any unpleasant surprises when our results come out.”

Natsu considered her words for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ll wait till we’re done with the trip. Then, I can sulk away till the results come out.”

“Flame Brain has a point,” muttered Gray. “Why dampen the mood?”

Erza growled and was about to say something, when Jellal put his hand over hers. “Let’s just go out for a walk? I don’t mind discussing it.”

She flushed red, and nodded as Jellal stood up, now holding her hand. Still red, she got up and followed him as he led her out of the door. Erza looked over her shoulder to look at Lucy wide-eyed and then her gaze flickered to Juvia’s in panic . Both the girls chuckled quietly and gave her a thumbs up as she disappeared. 

* * *

When sleep evaded Lucy, she slipped out of her room, making sure Juvia and Erza, who had returned mere minutes ago, were asleep. She tiptoed out of the door and stood outside, leaning against the cool railings. Eyes closed, she inhaled the chlorine scented air deeply, and though it wasn’t…  _ the best _ … it was a nice change from smoke scented air in the city. She looked up at the night sky, and smiled to herself when she saw the stars; it’d been so long since she’d seen the stars. 

“Pretty rare, huh,” came a voice from right next to her, making her jump. 

“Jeez, Natsu,” she said, hand on her chest. “You’re too stealthy for your own good.”

Chuckling, he shrugged and leaned forward as well, clasping his hands together as they rested on the railing. “Can’t sleep?”

“No,” she said, now resting her chin in her palm, elbow on the railing. “I’m not sure why, I just can’t. You?”

“Gray snores like a damn bulldozer.” Natsu snorted in annoyance. “And that wouldn’t have been a problem but Jellal just got back so that woke me up. And now I can’t go back to sleep.”

Lucy chuckled and the two stood in silence for a few moments before Natsu looked at her with a grin. “Wanna go for a swim?”

Fifteen minutes later, Natsu was already in the pool, waiting for Lucy as he let himself float in the water. He heard her footsteps and turned around to greet her but his words got stuck in his throat; her hair was up in a loose knot on the top of her head and she was stepping out of her light blue bathrobe to reveal the blood red two-piece she was wearing. The top was somewhat modest, forming an ‘X’ that wound around the her torso to knot on the back of her neck, but the bikini bottom was… a barely-there string thong and Natsu forced himself to tear his eyes away when she looked at him before descending into the pool. Relieved that she hadn’t really noticed him…  _ noticing…  _ he watched as she lowered herself into the pool via the ladder, back turned to him and he found himself sinking a little bit in the water out of embarrassment at the way he simply couldn’t stop staring.

He got a hold of himself when she finally slipped into the water and turned around to beam at him while she waded in the water in his direction. Moments later, the two of them found themselves sitting side by side on the shallow end, sitting cross legged on the floor so they were submerged neck down. She let out a long sigh and let her head drop on Natsu’s shoulder. 

“What is it?” 

“I know I’m supposed to… relax, but I keep worrying,” she muttered. 

“About?”

“Just… stuff. I am not looking forward to working for my dad,” she said, grimacing. 

Natsu sighed, draping an arm around her shoulder. “I don’t know why you don’t just join a publishing house. Your portfolio is great and-”

“It’s only for a year,” said Lucy. “Then I’ll quit. My dad won’t be able to say that I didn’t give it a fair chance then.”

“I don’t know, Luce… What if he doesn’t let you quit?”

“I… don’t know,” she murmured. “He  _ has  _ to. He told me to give it a fair chance because he thinks I would like it. He promised me I could do what I want if I didn’t.”

“I don’t get your dad,” said Natsu indignantly. “Why won’t he just-”

Lucy cut him off. “No one gets him. It’s fine, at least we’ve reached a middle ground. More than what I could have hoped for when I first joined college.”

Then she looked at him to ask, “Have you heard back from Fairy Tail?”

“No,” muttered Natsu. “They said to give it three weeks at least. But it went well. The old man liked me, I could tell,” he said with a grin. 

“I’m glad,” said Lucy smiling at him. “So you’ll be back in Magnolia, huh?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll be good to be home,” he said before pausing with a small frown. “I still haven’t talked to Mom about getting an apartment. She’s going to want me to live at home.”

“And you still haven’t told her? You’re such a knucklehead,” giggled Lucy. “She probably has your room all ready for you.”

Natsu groaned, making Lucy laugh harder. 

The two of them spent another hour in the pool, chattering away mostly about mundane things the way they always did until Lucy cracked a yawn. Natsu followed soon after. 

“Well, I guess we should call it a night,” said Lucy, yawning again. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Lucy started to lazily swim towards the ladder out of the pool, and while Natsu put his hands over the ledge of the pool, ready to prop himself up, his gaze fell on Lucy’s back as she moved further away. She would be defenseless, her back turned to him. Feeling mischeivous, Natsu couldn’t help himself as he quietly swam towards her.

His hands found her waist, making her still and as she started to turn towards him, he could see the tint of pink in her neck and cheeks. She was so easy to catch off guard, he thought with amusment before he ducked under the water to pull her under. She squeaked and gripped Natsu’s shoulders tightly as she pulled herself back to the surface, her face scrunched in outrage as Natsu’s arms automatically wrapped around her waist. 

Natsu was laughing as she towered over, hands still on his shoulder as she scowled at him. Her hair was now dripping wet, sticking to her face. 

“You  _ idiot _ ,” she said with emphasis, glaring. 

Natsu only cackled holding her tighter and was considering dunking her into the pool again, but she read his mind and hiss, “Don’t you  _ dare _ .”

“You’re no fun,” he muttered and as he lowered his eyes from her scowling face, he was all too aware of the fact his face was practically in her bare stomach. Internally reprimanding himself, he decided to ignore that fact, and still carrying her reached the ladder, sitting her on the top rung. Before she could get up, he crossed his hands on the top of her knees before resting his chin on them. 

“Ya know, Luce, you should come visit Magnolia some time,” he said seriously, cocking his head.

“What?”

“During the summer,” he said. “It’ll be fun. And you’ll love Magnolia.”

Lucy tilted her head thoughtfully and he was glad that she was seriously considering it. She knew that if she asked her Dad, he’d ask her to ask her aunt because he didn’t really care much about where she went and such. He wouldn’t care as long as long as she came to work on the day she’d promised she would, and he’d told her the rest of it was “girl stuff” a.k.a, her social life, that he’d rather have her aunt handle unless she got into real trouble. But of course, if he found out she was visiting a boy... A boy that was her best friend ( a bestfriend she slept with on  _ many  _ occasions), but still, she didn’t want to take the chance. If she caught her aunt in a good mood, maybe right after a successful date with her boyfriend, she would agree to keep it secret. 

“That sounds good,” said Lucy with a nod. “I’ll have to ask of course, but I think my aunt won’t mind!”   
  
“Awesome!” grinned Natsu. “There’s so much to see in Magnolia! And you’ll love the library! Oh, and the pizza at 8-Island!”

She pulled the hair tie off, letting her wet drop lose around her shoulder as Natsu talked about Magnolia, and all the things they could do there. For now, she didn’t want to think about what would happen after the summer. When she’d remain at Crocus and see her friends off one by one. Feeling her thoughts start to wander, she decided to focus on planning her visit to Magnolia. She would have something to look forward to until then, at least. 

As he talked, in the back of his mind, Natsu was struggling to keep coherent thoughts when he saw the soft smile on Lucy’s face. The way her golden hair fell around her shoulders, lose. He’d always loved that when he talked, she  _ listened  _ listened; it wasn’t just her being polite. He felt his words slow down a bit when she bowed down a little bit to remove some of his hair out of his eyes, and he hoped she hadn’t noticed the lull of his words. 

“We should go to bed,” said Natsu, voice low. “We leave early tomorrow and Erza will tear us apart if we don’t get up on time.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, starting to get up and climbed out of the pool. 

Natsu followed, slinging a towel around his neck as Lucy slipped into her bathrobe before running her fingers through her wet hair. The two of them entered the motel building in silence and just as they reached the floor they were on, the lights flickered for a few seconds. And then they were out. 

“Oh,  _ great _ ,” groaned Lucy. 

“It’s alright, come on, I’ll walk you to your room,” said Natsu quietly, looping his arm around hers as he pulled her in the direction of the room.

The corridor was mostly dark save for the soft light coming from the vending machine. There was no sound except for the dull thud of their footsteps against the floor. 

“ _ This is it _ ,” Lucy whispered, as they reached the room, which to Lucy’s surprise was right next to the lone vending machine in the corridor. “Huh, I didn’t notice this before,” she said, peering into it before grimacing at the contents of the machine; or lack thereof. There was hardly anything. 

Lucy still hadn’t let go of his arm and Natsu watched wordlessly as she babbled about how motel vending machines should be stocked, if only for the guests who arrived after the resto-bar closed.

For the  _ n _ th time in months, he tried to quell the odd sensation that was stirring in his gut. It happened so often these days, and he had no idea why. A small part of him didn’t even want to know what it was. 

It didn’t matter why his heart beat just a little bit faster around his best friend, or why he had discovered over the last few months that watching her sleep, practically nested into his side, made his heart so light. It didn’t matter that lately, he caught himself looking at her when she wasn’t looking, or how his gaze on her lingered a little too long on her when they said their goodbyes. There was no reason to look into why he sometimes felt like kissing her out of the blue while they were doing something as simple as hanging out with their friends just so he could taste her again. 

_ Didn’t matter. _

_ No reason. _

_ It was all because of their little arrangement. _

_ That’s all. _

It didn’t matter that in the soft glow of the vending machine, she looked like a freakin’ Vermeer painting. The blue light from the machine made her hair look practically silver and her eyes… There was absolutely no need to dissect how entranced he got when the light caught her brown eyes and it made the golden speckles in pools of hot chocolate, look silver.

“Natsu?”

Her voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up at her, startled to see her looking at him with concern. “You okay? You just… spaced out.”

He shook his head, trying to dispel the annoying thoughts. “I’m just tired now.”

“Yeah, we should  _ really  _ go to bed now,” she said, hand cupping the back of her neck as she rubbed it tiredly. He saw her lips perk in a soft smile as her hand reached out to touch his softly.

“Good night, Natsu,” she said softly, and he could see the way her eyes were shining. It pulled at his heartstrings when her eyes shone like that. 

And before he could reign himself in, his hand was cupping her face delicately, thumb grazing her cheek, right before he leaned forward to kiss her. A soft kiss, very contrart to the hot, needy ones they’d shared for this long. In the back of his mind, he registered her gasp but before he could pull away, her fingers had curled around the wrist of his hand cupping her face. The kiss remained gentle as she kissed him back, and when they drew back, she looked disoriented. 

Face flaming, Natsu knew he wouldn’t get any sleep that night. “Good night, Luce,” he said, trying to keep his voice from wavering and he fled to to his room where he would think of ways to explain why he did what he did when they would meet again the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to sort of bring in the friendship angle again before metaphorical shit hit the fan, just to reimphasize on a couple of things. And don’t worry, shit’s not going to hit the fan. Yet. It has begun it’s ascent towards the ceiling though skjdllfkfk


	6. Trying Times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH, HUH. I had a huge assignment due and my winter break finally started, so hopefully my fic writing will be back on track, lol. Not sure how I feel about this chapter, so proceed with caution lol.
> 
> Look out for the *** it gets a little M-rated - as best as my dumb ass could write it, not too explicit. You can skip straight to the section divide if you don't wanna read that!
> 
> I'm so confused about this chapter, smh. Hopefully the next two turn out better, and I just needed a warm back up to my writing with this one.

Come next morning, Natsu decided that the best course of action would be, of course, to pretend like nothing happened. So he greeted her as normally as he possibly could, heaving a sigh of relief when she beamed at him as she wished him a good morning. They loaded up the cars, all ready to go after a great breakfast buffet at the motel.

Popping in his motion sickness pills, he sidles next to Lucy into the car. Juvia sat at the front and Gray was driving. Levy, Gajeel, Erza and Jellal were in the other car.

Lucy chanced a sidewards look at Natsu, who was resting his chin on the sill of the open car window, eyes closed as the wind ruffled his hair. She knew something had changed. _Something. _The way he'd touched her last night, the way he'd looked at her… The way he'd kissed her.

It'd been different this time.

She kept her gaze on him, wondering if maybe she'd misread everything or if it was just a coincidence. Or a mood change brought about by the… lighting? As stupid as that sounded, it had to be. There was no reason for anything to change. His behaviour this morning - casual, unrestrained, the usual - was indicative of the fact that nothing had changed. It had to be a coincidence, she decided.

She let out the softest of sighs, not heard in the din of the music Gray had chosen to play for the ride. She leaned her head against the window on her side, deciding to count the number of red and blue vehicles she would pass, to kill time.

Across from her, Natsu finally breathed. He'd tried not to tense, but he had felt her gaze on him, almost scrutinising him. He tilted his head to rest his cheek against the window sill, tucking his head just a little to look at her.

He hoped she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He had no idea what possessed him to behave the way that he had. It was unusual. Yes, they were… um, screwing… hard and good, in fact, but something was changing, and Natsu wasn't sure if he liked it.

As he shuffled in his seat to straighten up a little bit, he met Gray's eyes in the rearview mirror. He paused in his movement, staring back and wondered if he imagined his slightly narrowed gaze. Narrowing his own eyes a little bit, Natsu turned his attention back to Lucy.

He watched her gaze turn focused, neck craning a little as her eyes started to rove up and down the road. He let out an amused snort.

"What colour?" he asked.

She looked at him startled before giving him a sheepish smile. "Red or blue."

Natsu laughed. "Wow, Icedick, car rides with you are so boring that Lucy's starting to track car colours."

"Shut it, Pyro," muttered Gray.

"Juvia would like to join this game," announced Juvia suddenly, turning into her seat to look at Lucy.

"Alright," Lucy grinned. "I take red. You take blue."

"_Hey, _red has always been _my_ colour!" said Natsu indignantly.

"I called it first," said Lucy, shrugging.

"_Fine_. I call white," Natsu mumbled. "Whoever counts the most wins."

"Juvia likes the sound of that," said Juvia, before frowning. "What's the prize?"

"Whoever loses pays for the winner's booze tonight," suggested Natsu, already cracking his knuckles as if bracing for a physical fight.

"I'm not playing this stupid game," muttered Gray.

"No one asked you to, jackass."

"I swear Flame Head, don't get me-"

"Don't be such a baby, Gray, _come on,_" said Lucy, leaning forward to lightly punch his shoulder.

"Yes, Juvia didn't think Gray would be such a killjoy," said Juvia, making Lucy snicker knowingly, while Gray grunted in response.

"_Fine_. Black cars."

"_Alright_!"

* * *

They reached Akane at sundown and were greeted at the resort by the rest of their friends. Cana was already drunk, to no one's surprise. The gang decided to take an hour to freshen up and meet at the restaurant-bar for dinner in an hour or so.

Though they were all on the same floor, Cana, Lucy and Levy were roommates this time around, while Juvia and Erza shared a room. Laxus and Mira had a room to themselves, right next to Lisanna and Bixlow's. Gray, Natsu and Gajeel shared a room, and much to their chagrin, theirs was right next to the _pretty _loud Evergreen and Elfman.

* * *

Natsu sat on the bar stool, leaning against the bar top with one elbow on it. Sipping on some beer, he couldn't help but track Lucy's movements across the dance floor. She was a terrible dancer, so it was for pure amusement so he could make fun of her later, is what he told himself.

As he watched, some tall guy with brown hair appeared in front of her, a small smile on his face. Natsu tensed, starting to stand up in case he needed to intervene, but Lucy smiled up at the stranger instead, an amused smile but he could see the flush on her cheeks as the stranger's hands slipped to her waist.

Natsu frowned. He should've been able to relax knowing that she wasn't in any trouble, then why did every cell in his body scream at him to walk over and push the man away from her? Grunting in annoyance, he turned in his seat fully so his back was to the dance floor, aggressively chugging his beer.

An uneasy feeling settled in his gut as he contemplated the reasons for his discomfort. He realised, much to his chagrin, that this time was bound to come some time. He couldn't possibly have expected that their 'arrangement' would last permanently, did he? Lucy had always talked about romance, so she was bound to eventually settle down with someone. He knew that. He'd always known that. It may not be the brown haired man dancing with her right now, but there would definitely be _someone_.

Unwillingly, he looked over his shoulder; she was still dancing with the man, an amused look on her face. Careful not to stare too long, he turned back around to glare at the counter-top.

_We only started this because we were both… well, horny._

He cringed at the thought, but he supposed it was true. Neither of them were them were the kind to really do something like that but they trusted each another enough to do it, and trusted their friendship enough to go through with it. Had they discussed on what to do if they… found someone else? He couldn't remember at the moment. He did remember though they'd promised each other that they'd just tell each other if either of them wanted to stop. It was his idea, if he remembered correctly.

Now that he thought back to it, it was a stupid idea. Of course she'd expect an explanation as to _why _he wanted to stop. He himself didn't know but then again, did he _really _want to stop? Maybe not but he got the feeling he should.

_Maybe?_

But there really wouldn't be any reason to until _she _said something, was there? He didn't really mind. Or maybe he did, because _something _wasn't right.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and stood up, deciding to call it a night. He needed some space to just… _think_. Thankful that Gray had lost that game and that he would pay for his drink, he started to make his way towards the exit, stopping with raised eyebrows when he saw Juvia pinned against wall, being kissed senselessly by Gray.

_Finally_, thought Natsu with a snort, as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the bar.

* * *

Lucy admittedly found the man in front of her quite cute. _Dan Straight_, he'd said his name was. He was a funny guy, and she could tell he was her type. _Totally_.

So when the man slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, why in the heck was she feeling _guilty_?

She squirmed, just a little bit, to put some distance between them, and was glad that he got the message and did not push it. She tried to listen to his jokes, which were admittedly funny. He was being flirty but not in a lewd way, which she always appreciated. And yet…

Her eyes anxiously looked for Natsu, hoping he would be okay with it, but he was nowhere around. That only served to make her more jittery. Although she supposed there was no reason for him to _not _be okay with it because they weren't really… dating, or anything. They were friends-with-benefits, is all. Wait, scratch that, _best _friends-with-benefits.

She bit her lower lip in confusion. Her thoughts felt muddled, and for all it was worth she couldn't figure out why. Predominantly though, she could sense guilt. She almost felt like she was… _cheating _on Natsu some how.

The thought made her stop in her tracks.

"Hey, you okay?"

Blinking up at Dan, she stepped back carefully, confused and agitated.

"I'm sorry," she said slowly. "I need… a drink."

Dan looked at her curiously, before stepping closer. "Is that all? I could get you one?" he said.

Lucy nodded mutely, watching Dan disappear through the crowd on the dance floor. Suddenly, the room felt a bit too much. She needed to clear her head, and get a grip on whatever she was feeling right now. Her flickered over to the bar and she could just make out Dan standing there, waiting for the drink she'd asked him to get. She didn't want to be here anymore. Mentally apologising to him, she turned on her heels and slipped away from the crowd on the dance floor.

She breathed deeply and headed for the exit, steadily hurrying towards her room, pausing only to raise her eyebrows at the sight of Juvia straddling Gray as they made out on a couch by the exit.

_Well._

* * *

Natsu reached his room and stood in front of it, key card in hand, contemplating whether he should go inside or just head to the terrace for a breath of fresh air. His thoughts were broken by the sound of heels clicking against the floor and he looked up to see Lucy appear from the stairwell. She was digging through her purse for keys and when she fished them out triumphantly, she finally saw him. She stopped in her path, to stare at him and he swallowed thickly as he stared back. She licked her lips nervously, and despite himself, he found himself drinking her in, red dress, black heels and all.

She cleared her throat slightly, and he found his face flaming at the realization of being caught. He nervously undid the top couple of buttons of his shirt, feeling unusually hot all of a sudden as she started to walk towards him. "Erm, sorry, I was just uh-"

And then she was kissing him, hands bunching the material of his shirt tightly as she pressed him against the door of his room. Only after the briefest hesitation, he started to kiss her back, his hands slipping around her waist. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was tempted to ask about the guy she'd been dancing with, but he didn't want to know, he supposed. Besides, he couldn't help but feel a sense of smug victory because did that guy really matter, when she was here now?***

Without breaking the kiss, his hands fumbled behind him, trying to wave the key in front of the detector. A few attempts latter, the door beeped twice and she pushed him into the room, hands feverishly working at undoing his shirt. His hands slid down her waist and to her thighs before he pushed her back against the now closed door of the room, just as she hoisted herself up to wrap her legs around his waist. Soon, his shirt was off of him and he was trailing kisses down her jaw and neck, as she threw her head back against the door with a soft groan. Her dress, unzipped by him moments ago, was bunched around her waist and presently, he was working on unclasping her bra. When she felt it come away, she leaned into his body, pushing herself off the door as she nipped at his earlobe, followed by a low mutter - "Bed."

He walked them both to his bed, and in seconds, both of them were stripped bare and he was hovering over her, planting kisses down her neck and sucking on her collar bone. Going back to kissing her as his fingers travelled southwards, brushing against her sensitive core, making her shudder. She arched off the bed just a bit as she felt his fingers entering her and moaned into his mouth. He nipped her lips before leaving them with a grunt when he felt her fingers wrap around him and delivered a swift stroke.

"Fuck," he breathed, taking a moment to rest his forehead in the crook of her neck before lazily running his tongue down her throat.

She hissed and stopped his fingers from pumping in and out of her. He raised himself questioningly, but kissed her with a sense of urgency when he felt her guide him to her now dripping entrance. Her legs went up to wrap around him, her heels digging into his lower back as he thrust himself into her. Her hands entwined in his hair, her grip firm as she held his face to hers, kissing him with an urgency that mirrored his own as he relentlessly pound into her. They came seconds apart from each other, and he collapsed on top of her, face buried in her neck. Her hands were still in his hair as she tried to catch her breath, her mind completely disoriented and hazier than it had been before.

A few minutes later, Natsu planted a lazy kiss on her lips and rolled off of her. Automatically, she turned to her side and felt his arm wrap around her waist as he pulled her close, his chest against her bare back. She felt his breath fan the nap of her neck and she sighed softly, privy to the very tangible urgency that had been in the air. She knew he had sensed it as well, and slowly her thoughts from earlier that evening came back.

Sensing her tense in his arms, he started to rub soothing circles on her back, and despite herself, she found herself relaxing and starting to drift off.

Natsu on the other hand, was still wide awake. _That _didn't go according to plan. He had gone out looking for fresh air to clear his head; not do the very thing that had muddled his head in the first place. He _really _had a lot of thinking to do.

"Luce?" he called softly.

"Hm?"

"Ice Prick or Lug Nuts could be back any moment," he said, reluctantly, knowing that the chances of that were very low. He knew she knew as well, but he couldn't think this way, with her asleep in his arms.

She sat up quickly. "Oh... Right."

He hated it, the practically palpable tension. But it had to be done. He sat up and watched as she quickly put her clothes back on. She turned to him with a nervous smile that he didn't miss, and he wished he could give her some sort of reassurances, but right now... He couldn't really bring himself to. "Good night, Natsu."

"Good night, Luce."

She hesitated for a second before leaning down and kissing his cheek, making his eyes widen just the slightest. With another unsure smile, she left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gents... The Moment, is close.
> 
> I had to split this chapter into two parts, it's running too long ugh. Now idk if I should call the next one 'Trying Times - II' or 'Breakable Heaven'. I'm inclining to 'Breakable Heaven', if I'm being honest.
> 
> Also, I haven't published the previously teased Arranged Marriage AU yet cuz I'm doing some major rework on it. I realized that somehow, him already dating Lisanna would make no sense - how come Igneel doesn't know, Igneel isn't like Jude so if he knew he would never do that to Natsu - and not to mention, I won't be able to write much happening between NatsuXLucy if he was dating Lis because that'd be cheating and I hate doing that to my main characters lol.


	7. Breakable Heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS! ITS TRUE, I AM ALIVE.
> 
> I really just got caught up in so many things and had to get my head on straight, but I'm a lot better now, and I can hopefully keep up and continue my fanfics, MAYBE EVEN START SOME NEW ONES OOPS. ;)
> 
> Some bits of this chapter will be a bit strange, I think, because I probably took too long a break from writing and it will take me a while to get back into the groove, oops. I would very much appreciate it if you guys could give me some notes of sorts if you notice any stark differences on where I went wrong?

Lucy stared at the ceiling, trying to make something of the shapes the flickering shadows cast on the creamy surface. Something had been different tonight, she knew. There was… something… in the way he'd held her face as he kissed her and the way his fingers had dug into her hips. She'd sensed urgency in his actions, and she'd felt it in herself as well. She was usually all up for the way he er, used his… fingers… but she'd practically needed him.

The sensation was foreign.

They'd always been somewhat leisurely and lazy, occasionally a bit rough, in the past but tonight… She sighed, and turned to her side to gaze out of the window by the bed, eyes on the night sky, and she tried to reason with her spiralling thoughts.

He had told her in clear terms that they would tell each other if they wanted to stop or call off their little "arrangement". Or was that her who had suggested it?

She trusted him, and the promise they'd made each other. Things were going to be okay. She was sure. She was overthinking things as usual, and nothing was wrong, really. She scolded herself for it.

_I should know better than that._

She slipped into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Natsu woke up the next with a yawn, blinking his eyes open groggily. And remembering last night, and his dilemma and all of it, he sighed. He started to sit up, when he felt a pillow hit his face with an annoyed grunt.

"I'd prefer not to be flashed by you, Flame Brain."

Natsu let out a foreign sounding yelp and pulled the covers up to his waist, muttering a thanks as Gray handed Natsu's boxers to him, making no effort to hide the disgust on his face. Gray turned away, allowing Natsu a moment to slip into his boxers and Natsu noted that his rival (one of his best friends, but he didn't need to know that) looked… well, like, shit.

"Couldn't handle all that liquor, could you?" smirked Natsu. "Where's Gajeel?"

"Shut up." Gray scowled, whipping his face towards Natsu with the intention of telling him off, but wince instead as his head pulsed. "He was up early. Went to see Levy, I'm sure."

Natsu chuckled. "There's some aspirin in my bag," he said, reaching over to his backpack and rolling his eyes when Gray looked at him incredulously, because Natsu and foresight in the same sentence was unusual. "Relax, Luce made me pack them in, just in case," he said, handing over the strip of tablets to Gray.

The thought of her made him sigh internally, and he tugged at his hair in mild annoyance. Apparently his problem wasn't something he could just sleep off, though he had known better. This whole affair was starting to bother him on a deeper level, and it annoyed him to no end that clearly talking to Lucy about it was out of the question. He wasn't sure what to even say to her, because truth be told he didn't know what it was about the situation that bothered him in the first place.

"Of course," snickered Gray, before popping it in his mouth and downed it with water. "Couldn't expect a bonehead like you to think ahead or whatever, could I? You really had me there, for a second."

"Don't test me, Fullbuster," snapped Natsu.

Gray raised a brow. "What're you so mad about? Clearly you had a… good night," he said, gesturing his hand in Natsu's direction. "Was it that brunette making eyes at you all night?"

Natsu looked up at him confused. Brunette? Who? What?

"Someone else, I guess," said Gray, cocking his head as he studied his friend. "Are you guys going to meet again?"

"It was a one-night stand," said Natsu, because 'no' would've been a lie, and 'yes' would mean more questions. Gray could be so annoying.

"Really?" asked Gray sceptically.

Natsu rolled his eyes and leaned against the headboard with a grunt, turning away from Gray, a clear indication that the conversation was over. But Gray couldn't take a hint, apprently. Well, he could but he didn't care enough to. Yeah, that sounded more like him.

"Pyro, I'm serious here," said Gray. "This isn't like you."

"You don't know what you're saying," said Natsu. "What does that even mean? Clearly it is because I'm doing it, aren't I?"

"I do know what I'm saying," retorted Gray. "You're the guy with the 'at least 4 dates' policy. That doesn't scream very one night stand to me."

"Who said it was a one night stand," said Natsu, looking at his friend like he'd just won a challenge, forgetting that he himself had minutes ago, declared it a one night stand.

"You did, you moron," huffed Gray, crossing his arms.

"Tch," he said in irritation.

Gray's brows puckered up before realization crossed his face. "It's... the same girl? From… before?"

"Yes, dumbass," said Natsu smugly. _Ha_, now that'll shut you up.

"So it's a friends-with-benefits kind of a situation? For four months now?" asked Gray skeptically.

"Yep." The 'p' popped.

"And its just… casual sex?"

Natsu groaned. "Yes, what part of 'friends-with-benefits' did you not understand?"

"And the girl... She's... here? At Akane where we are on vacation?"

Natsu paled a little bit, but shook his head in annoyance, trying different tactic. "Now stop asking me these questions, it's weirding me out!"

"The questions are because _you're _being weird, what is with you, man?" asked Gray, just a hint of concern in his voice. "Why didn't you tell us? Is it a coincidence that she's here or are..."

"Not your business," hissed Natsu through gritted teeth.

"Well, excuse me for being doubtful, you're a very all-in kind of guy. I don't wanna see this go to shit. Do any of us even know her and-"

"I know her well enough," said Natsu, interrupting him snappily. "And if things were to go wrong they already would have, wouldn't they? We've been doing this for months now, I'd say we're okay. And we will be. Nothing could go wrong. I trust her. She trusts me. We wouldn't hurt each other, ever. I know it. And… just… it's… _her_, you know?"

Then Natsu shook his head again, repeating as if to himself, "Nah, nothing is going to go wrong."

Gray cocked his head and watched his friend curiously, noting the faraway look in his eyes and the nervous twitch of his eyebrow as he fidgeted nervously.

"It's Lucy isn't it?" asked Gray quietly.

"Jeez, Gray, don't go around spewing lies like that," sputtered Natsu, his entire posture tense. Besides, the slight catch in his chuckle was a dead giveaway. Not to mention the flood of pink in his cheeks.

Gray simply studied him for a moment, tracking his fidgety hands and the way he wouldn't meet his eyes and oh boy-

"You're in love with her," said Gray with wonder, and it was a statement. No question behind it, just a mere statement.

Natsu hopped off the bed with a scowl, now on his feet as he glowered down at Gray, who stayed surprinsingly calm. Observant, and Natsu knew that that look of cold speculation meant he was putting things together and that just made him madder.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he snapped, glaring. "That's absurd. Luce is my best friend. And what does that have any-"

"Oh, you're really going to go down that path, huh? Deny it? What kind of an idiot do you take me for? You said it's the same girl as the last four months, and it can only be her. Natsu, seriously, what were you two idiots thinking! You're in too deep now and you're being a coward about-"

"You really shouldn't be giving me advice on this crap anyway," growled Natsu, arms crossed tightly.

"What'd you say, Flame Brain?" scowled Gray, on his feet as well now, eye-to-eye with Natsu as he glared at his friend.

"You heard me. You not only have not the courage to tell Juvia that you actually like her, but you are too much of a coward to even acknowledge kissing her last night!"

Gray froze. "What? I didn't-"

Natsu felt his temper deflate as he watched a range of expressions on his friend's face before it finally landed on panic. Natsu had a realization as well as he slapped a palm across his face.

"You were drunk out of your mind, weren't you?"

"Yes," said Gray, aghast. "I don't even remember… Oh, god."

"You should talk to her," said Natsu, with a sigh. "I'll bet she's freaking out right now."

Natsu sighed with relief when Gray left the room hastily yelling _"This isn't over!_" behind him, and lay back down on his bed because Gray was an idiot who had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, Natsu loved Lucy. So much. Of course, he did. But he wasn't... _ln love _with her. That would be absurd. He _couldn't _possibly in love with her because that just would not be... feasible. Things were going well now. It was a delicate balance obviously, but they were both handling it quite well.

He _couldn't_.

* * *

Some time around lunch, Natsu showered and putting on a fresh pair of clothes, stepped out of the room squishing every single thought of the conversation he'd had with Gray. As he stepped into the banquet hall where lunch was being served - a buffet! his favourite kind - his eyes automatically scanned the crowd for Lucy and he could almost see Gray's smug face in his mind's eye. So he willed himself to walk slower, plate in hand as he joined the queue and made sure not to keep peeking in her direction as he served himself food. Once done, he - _slowly _\- made his way to where Lucy was sitting, picking at her food with a small frown on her face.

"Hey," he said quietly, startling her out of her musings as he pulled a chair to sit next to her.

"Hi," she said, small smile on her place, which turned into amusement as she saw his loaded plate. "Skipped breakfast, did you?"

Natsu chuckled sheepishly and shrugged. "Even I have days where I skip meals, you know?"

"And thoroughly overcompensate after," she snickered, leaning forward to brush some hair out of his face. Her fingertips were cold against his forehead, he noted.

"Where're the rest of them?" he asked, noting that she was the only one in the hall that he knew.

"All holed up in their love nests, probably," Lucy snorted. "Gray came to our room this morning and I stepped out to give them some privacy." Then she lowered her volume with mock secrecy. "Things got _pretty _loud after a point."

"About time he manned up," he said, chewing on chicken.

Lucy only laughed. "Yeah, I'm happy for them. It's been a long time coming."

He merely hummed in agreement and they ate in silence for a couple of minutes before Lucy sighed. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you..." she trailed off unsurely, drawing his attention immediately as he looked at her with concern. As she worried her lower lip, he placed a hand gently on her arm to make her look at him.

"What is it?"

"I was just..." she sighed. "Do you ever... Sometimes I... I wonder if I'll find someone to love like that. A lasting sort of a love. I like to think sometimes that such a thing is a fantasy but when I look around... I don't know, I'm just being silly, I think."

He coughed a little, hands twitching a little as he dropped his fork and took both her hands in his. "You're amazing, Luce. Anyone would be lucky to love you."

She laughed lightly, bumping her forehead to his fondly. "Well, it's your sacred duty to tell me that, you're my best friend."

"Of course," he said, throat suddenly felt very dry. "And still, I'm right. You'll find someone. He will of course, have to be thoroughly vetted by me. I have to make sure he's worthy of you."

Despite the teasing grin on his face, the idea sounded far from pleasant.

Lucy, oblivious to his mild agitation, laughed slouching in her seat. "What would I do without you..." she sighed, squeezing his hands.

"Get together with a complete honest-to-god idiot, probably," he said, and his own chuckle sounded fake to him.

They sank back into silence, until Natsu excused himself for another round at the buffet table, earning a giggle out of Lucy as she ruffled his hair. Her laughter ringing in his ears, he went to join the queue again, hyperaware of her eyes tracking him.

When he finally felt her gaze tear away from him, he looked over at her and couldn't help smiling a bit at the adorable way she twirled her blonde hair around her finger as continued to nibble on her food, always the slow eater. Her gaze met again and she beamed at him. His chest tightened with warmth at the realization that she'd made him forget all about that _really _stressful conversation from that morning. He loved that about her. She always managed to find a way to just _be there _for him without prying or asking too many questions. Her very presence could make him forget the most dreary of things and just being around her was more than...

_Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD HOW BAD WAS IT. I'm really sorry for disappointing, ahhhhhhhh I'm telling y'all I just need a little time to get back into the characters' heads and everything.
> 
> ANYWAYS. How have you guys been? How's the lockdown and the quarantine and what not treating you? I'm having the time of my life to be completely honest.
> 
> I PROMISE I'm working on Mosaic Broken Hearts I already had this chapter half written out so I went ahead and worked on this one first.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know kind of out of character, huh? But WELL love me angst and it's one of my favourite tropes... Tell me what you think!! Please .-. Also, yeah, I’m aware that this could be physically impossible but just give me the creative license please sdjklfjkl


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